#i haven't been a discworld fan for that long

[curarems]

Nothing like waking up with no knowledge of the date, opening the discworld tag and getting hit with 12TH OF MARCH screaming sobbing lying on the floor.

Gnu Terry Pratchett

[ana-chronista]

9 people you’d like to get to know better! Thanks for the tag, @esskuesli - it's been ages since I've done one of these! three ships: To the surprise of nobody here, let’s go with Bojere and Jance as the first two. If you asked me seven months ago if I’d ever return to RPF, the answer would have been a resounding no. And yet here I am... As a third, let’s go for Bagginshield (Thorin Oakenshield/Bilbo Baggins), as this was the last fandom I was heavily involved in before possibly the world’s longest hiatus! first ship: I’m not sure I can even remember exactly which one, but I first got introduced to fanfiction and shipping via Harry Potter. It was so long ago that the books were still coming out (and, y'know, before JKR started torching her legacy), and there were major shipping wars between Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione. So probably something around that. last song: ‘Water Slides’ by Mew. (I would love to know how they come up with the ideas for their videos, I really would...) last film: It’s been a while since I went to the cinema, so the last one I saw out was Barbie. At home, I’ve probably since rewatched Hot Fuzz. It’s one of those films you just have to see time and again... for the greater good... currently reading: I’ve finally got round to picking up ‘The Thirtieth Year’ (‘Das dreißigste Jahr’) by Ingeborg Bachmann after meaning to read the whole thing for ages. In translation this time though – I’m being lazy. I’m also reading ‘A Life With Footnotes’, the Terry Pratchett biography by his assistant/business manager Rob Wilkins. I’m a huge fan of Discworld/Good Omens, so it's really interesting to find out more about how he came to be who he was and I feel like it’s the closest it could be to an autobiography without him having written the whole thing himself, if that makes sense? currently watching: Within the past week, I’ve managed to finish Bodies, Lupin Season 3 and All The Light We Cannot See, and now I’m at a bit of a loose end. I’ll probably be catching up with Loki Season 2 next. (Incidentally if anyone would like to chat about any of these, feel free - especially Lupin, I have THOUGHTS!) currently consuming: Strawberry and raspberry tea. currently craving: Pasta bake – something with lots of cheese and a crispy topping. It’s freezing outside so perfect weather for it!

I think most people have probably been tagged already, but if you haven't and you'd like to do it: @frikatilhi @occhi-verdi-come-il-mare @greensolsikke @sparklitive-sonya @pippitypippin @i-wasnt-ready-for-this @technicallycleverdetective and anyone else who would like to give it a go!

[hashtagcaneven]

for the fic game: V, A, S, and H!

I see what you did there....

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you? Not yet, sadly. I'm still pretty new so what few comments I've gotten haven't had time to stick. But I always love the ones guessing what's gonna happen or the keyboard smashes. It's just nice to see people engaging with the fic and expressing their enjoyment.

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why? I mean... I've only written the one fanfic sooooooo. But I've had more fun writing Thirty Pieces of Silver more than anything else I've written. Save for The Underground Horror. It's a very long term project that started as therapy writing in 2009 that's led to multiple tabletop campaigns with my friends playing around in this universe I've created. Those games are always so special and fun, where we toe the line between serious urban fantasy/horror and Discworld level sillies (they once texted the head vampire "we're gonna go kidnap a werewolf. wanna come bestie?", spent 30 mins trying and failing to wash a dish, and weaponized roombas in a final fight with the BBEG) It's been so much fun to introduce friends to the weird shit in my brain and then have them message me randomly with either shitposts about the setting or ask me tons of questions <3

S: How do you feel about fan art inspired by your writing? I would literally die of being so fucking flattered! You mean something I wrote stuck in someone's brain long enough for them to make ART?!?!?!?!?! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

H: How would you describe your writing style? Oh gods. My first creative writing professor once said my "creativity far outreached [my] current skill", which seems to still be the same today. So I tend to write things in more experimental ways - playing with pacing and sentence structure and framing dialogue. I know my journalist background keeps sentences and fragments generally concise, so I tend to have good readability (in terms of how easily someone can read through what I've written). Throw in years of theatre/screenplay assistance and I can lean into dialogue as I try to put what plays out in my head into words.

[boopgaloop]

🧙‍♂️💭🔥🎲 for the discworld ask meme!

!!! thank you for the ask! :)

🧙‍♂️ (How did you get into reading Discworld?) - I got into the series after randomly checking out a copy of Interesting Times from the library! I'd heard good things about Discworld and was already a fan of Pratchett through reading Good Omens, so I figured I'd check it out. Read Interesting Times and was instantly hooked!

💭 - This line from Night Watch: “As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn’t measure up.” Really made me think about why revolutions fail when people claim to speak for people whose needs they don’t understand. 🔥 (Have a rant about a book/scene/character that is chronically underrated/misunderstood by the fandom!) - I haven't been in the fandom long enough to know all the hot takes or the prevailing opinions, so I'll just say that, in my opinion, Rincewind as a main character kind of only works once? Like, I liked him in Interesting Times because he was new to me, but once I finished that book, the whole joke of him not wanting to be involved with the story kind of wore off, and now I find it hard to read his books.

That's probably a pretty tepid take, since I think Pratchett himself said that to a certain extent, but it's the only thing I could think of to rant about :D

🎲 (Wild card! Pick anything you'd like to tell us about Discworld that isn't mentioned above) Uhhh I recently found out that I’ve been pronouncing Angua’s name wrong this whole time and it’s kinda been fucking with me.

[burnsopale]

Sir Percy Hits Back (1927) review

A Scarlet Pimpernel book by Baroness Orczy

Mild spoilers until the big "SPOILERS". Then big spoilers.

What's this one about? It is the spring of 1794, and the French Revolution has spun completely out of control. The country is gripped by bloodlust and paranoia, and people are being executed in the thousands without a fair trial, under the new "Law of the suspect". Sweet, sheltered Fleurette and her shop boy fiancé get in trouble while helping the Scarlet Pimpernel, and now Percy must save them, but then he meets Monsieur Armand, Fleurette's mysterious father ...

Should you read it? As a Scarlet Pimpernel fan, do you enjoy Chauvelin? Then absolutely yes. This is THE book. Prepare your emotions. If you haven't read any SP, I recommend the first book first.

Any of those "this book was written a long time ago" content warnings? Unfortunately, one of Percy's disguises involves blackface. He's taking part in a sort of play and using it as an excuse to disguise his identity. It's thankfully not heavily emphasised, but it's there. As in the first book, this is an "of its time" kind of deal, not meant maliciously by the author, but definitely uncomfortable for the modern reader.

Apart from that, is the book good? My reaction to this book is wanting to jump up and down and schreech like a howler monkey, but I do have some more coherent things to say about the writing and narrative. The short of it is that if you enjoy SP then this is more of what you like.

Orczy's writing is the usual mix of good and bad. She is not the most technically proficient writer of her time; it is for instance sometimes unclear when a thought belongs to a character and when it's the omnicient narrator's opinion, especially when she's talking about politics. I also have a hard time understanding her motives sometimes, like with the character Adele, who is a dour, "rat-faced" girl who grew up as a sort of Cinderella in Fleurette's household, except that Fleurette is sweet and kind and helps out around the house too. Adele has been treated terribly by fate, and Orczy makes us feel that, but on the other hand Orczy never seems to be suggesting that anyone around Adele ought to do something to lift her out of drudgery and misery, not even her own mother, or Monsieur Armand, who certainly could help if he realised he should. There's even a feeling like the narrator judges Adele for not being pretty and sweet-natured like the coddled Fleurette. It's a seriously mixed message, though perhaps saved by the interference of the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose choice in regards to the fate of the girl seems to suggest that he at least sympathises with her, and he is after all our hero.

In general, Orczy has a lot of mixed messages of judgement and generosity towards her characters, but you can choose whether to take it as a portrait of messy, complicated humanity, or as an author who isn't clearly communicating. I tend to think she's got some natural genius peeping through the technical shortcomings, because her prose is occasionally brilliant and she's fantastic at drama and emotion, but she definitely also had some attitudes about peasants and nobles that read uncomfortably today.

She also sometimes forgets or ignores her own continuity. from little things like hair-colour, to bigger things that actually make this book and Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922) incapatible in a single timeline. Then again, we don't fault Terry Pratchett for doing the same thing in his Discworld series, so I don't really judge her for this. She's writing whatever she wants (good for her), and if she had stuck to her already established canon, this book wouldn't exist, so I'm grateful she didn't give a damn.

You're complaining a lot. What IS good about the book then? THE FEELS. The romance is sweet, but the center stage is taken up by

- SPOILERS! -

Holy shit, Chauvelin is an only dad and his daughter is a sweetheart and calls him Bibi, and you did not see this coming because Orczy didn't either so she never lay any groundwork for it but holy hell does she know how to make the most of it! The drama is so intense and the agony Chauvelin feels as he is forced to confront that he helped create and perpetuate the system of terror that is now going to murder his beloved daughter is so juicy.

What is more delicious than a villain in such a desperate vice he must pray for the aid of his worst enemy while knowing the other man has no reason to give it to him?

If you like Chauvelin this book is absolute catnip, from finding out his home is a little Disney cottage by a river, to seeing how tired and traumatised he has become from all his failures to stop the Scarlet Pimpernel, to his desperate attempts at stopping Fleurette's execution, you will be satisfied. He is still his brutal, cruel self, but you also get to see him be soft and loving with his child, and while the redemption of murderous villains always requires a little extra suspension of disbelief, I think Orczy does a good job with this one.

There are also some fun League shenanigans going on, and watching Percy and Chauvelin drift towards each other like an iceberg and the Titanic is very exciting.

So it's got my thumbs up, but I do recommend reading with a critical eye to troublesome historical attitudes. Other than that, enjoy the drama.

[rotationalsymmetry]

Animorphs/Discworld/ATLA who things what about which.

Ok. I already did how the Animorphs feel about the Discworld books. (Caveat it's been a while since I've read most of the Discworld books and I haven't actually finished Animorphs.) So, how the Animorphs would feel about ATLA if that was on TV while the books were happening or when they were a bit younger.

First thing that jumps out at me is Aang's pacifism, which presumably Cassie would vibe with, but which the others might have very little patience with. Perhaps especially Marco. These people killed his entire people! How can Aang care about the life of Firelord, the grandson of the person who was responsible for his people's genocide, unless he doesn't value their lives?

I think probably all of them would love the elemental combat magic, I mean, who wouldn't like that sort of thing?

I just said (prev post) that Rachel would love Karara, but on second thought I think she'd REALLY love Toph. Life goals. Toph doesn't care what anyone thinks and she can beat guys twice her height. And she's capable of following social rules but won't do it when she doesn't want to. Epic. 10/10 would go on a crime spree with.

On the subject of Cassie liking that everyone in the Discworld books is a person, well, so is everyone in ATLA. Even scenery characters with one or two lines. The show's especially careful to humanize people in the Fire Nation -- members of the royal family, ordinary soldiers, civilians -- and she'd love that. And you know she's watched Appa's Lost Days over. And over. And over. If Cassie got to be a bender she'd want to be an airbender. And of course she's a huge fan of Zuko's redemption arc. People can change!

Marco doesn't like the show. I hate to say it but it's true. Because it makes it too hard to not think about his mom. I mean. He kind of likes it. But it also gives him lots of feels and he's not going to TALK about it ok? He certainly doesn't want anyone else to think about his mom and maybe feel sorry for him. He also thinks Toph is Life Goals.

Ax's favorite episode is the northern air temple one. He's fascinated at the idea of humans flying. Imagine, humans flying! They can barely even jump!

Ax also sympathizes with Sokka on the "supposed to be a warrior but was left behind when the fighting happened" front. He's glad Sokka eventually gets one of those hand held substitute tail blades humans use. Probably thinks the human Animorphs should get some of those too, just in case they ever have to fight out of morph. (He also sympathizes with Zuko about being a long way from home and maybe never going to get to go back. He's not going to talk about that though, much like Marco isn't going to talk about missing his mother.)

Tobias also likes the northern air temple episode, for some reason. He ships Aang and Katara. He wants to be like Sokka. He'd be an airbender because airbending is the coolest bending. And because of flying. He likes the great divide episode because there's a park ranger. I'm not sure what his opinions on the messenger hawks are, but I'm sure they're very strong opinions.

Jake. Hmm, Jake. Jake likes Azula. I mean, she's a villain, so it's not like he thinks she's a good person -- and a lot of what he's picking up from her on the how to be a leader front is how NOT to do things -- but she's a good character. And, well, sometimes he needs to think about someone who understands how much pressure he's under. Azula understands that. (Sokka understands that too, and he does pick up some "how to be a leader when your group only kinda sorta does leaders" from him. Jake is super different from Sokka though. Sokka is a planner. Jake is an improviser. His plans tend to suck, but when they fall through he can pivot ok.) (ah shit now I also have to do Leverage.)

[hiitspath]

Okay, Okay, Okay,

I finished Good Omens recently and absolutely loved it. I am already a huge Neil Gaiman fan and have been for a long time. But after reading Good Omens, I had to read more Terry Pratchett! (I am going to re-read American Gods tho. Soon hopefully)

So I picked up a Diskworld novel.

And when reading the first page of the I came across this passage.

"A turtle, ten thousand miles long. It is Great A'Tuin," and my brain immediately jumped to the creation story I learned about as a child. Turtle Island. In the Mohawk (Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) version of the Skywoman's story and how she made the world on the back of a turtle. (I don't know if anyone on Tumblr will actually know what I'm talking about but if you are from mohawk nation, she:kon).

But it made me think for a second "was Terry Pratchett inspired by the Skywoman story?" then I remembered that other cultures also had stories about the world being on the back of turtle to some degree. So it's more likely the chances of him being specifically inspired by that story are pretty slim. But I absolutely love the description of the rest of A'Tuin so I'll share it here.

" - It carries on its meteor-pocketed shell four giant elephants who bear on their enormous shoulders the great round wheel of the Discworld."

So obviously the odds of Terry Practchett knowing about Skywoman's story are slim. And I'm not sure if anyone told him about it.

Hell, I'm probably the only person on my rez who's even heard of Discworld. I really don't know

I'm also realizing that I might also be over examining or looking for a connection at this point. But reading a story with a world that takes place on the backs of elephants, standing on the back of a giant turtle.

The point of all this rambling musing?

I guess the description just clicked something in my brain and the idea that Terry Pratchett may have been inspired by something from my culture (again, very unlikely). It made me weirdly proud of my culture? Like proud that something from my culture influenced a great author? I know I'm probably alone in this feeling, but I haven't read a book, in an embarrassing long time, that just grabbed me like that.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm excited to read a book!

[datsderbunnyblog]

I posted 7,217 times in 2021

737 posts created (10%)

6480 posts reblogged (90%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 8.8 posts.

I added 3,274 tags in 2021

#gnu terry pratchett - 1329 posts

#havelock vetinari - 369 posts

#sam vimes - 323 posts

#discworld art - 253 posts

#neil gaiman - 229 posts

#good omens - 185 posts

#always reblog - 160 posts

#vetvimes - 159 posts

#bbc ghosts - 139 posts

#susanna clarke - 128 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#this has completely organically turned into a sybil ramkin apprication and body positivity post and i haven’t been this pleased in a long ti

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I love the dynamic in the Discworld fandom on this site, I think it's mainly because there are a lot of dormant fans, if you will, who've read and loved the books for years but haven't engaged much recently, who sort of reappear whenever a fun post is doing the rounds. It's fantastic. We get the cozy small fandom vibe without the screaming matches, but also get the popular posts from time to time, y'know?

3401 notes • Posted 2021-05-24 12:14:47 GMT

#4

Normalise autistic adults voluntarily wasting an entire day on special interests and then posting a bad selfie with a glass of wine on Facebook like a white Autism Warrior Mommy™ with the caption "Autism won today" x

3429 notes • Posted 2021-10-02 22:23:45 GMT

#3

I’m always mildly surprised when books have chapters.

That’s it, that’s all I have to say. Discworld people will get it.

4617 notes • Posted 2021-01-14 17:37:49 GMT

#2

I think it’s becoming clear how difficult this is to appreciate in certain social media bubbles: Transphobes (including terfs) read Discworld and don’t think it applies to them. Racists read Discworld and don’t think it applies to them. I’ve seen far-right MAGA hat gun-toting white supremacists talk about Discworld and they simply haven’t noticed that they’re openly being mocked for their narrow-minded bigotry with every page.

They’re out there, and they really aren’t as rare as you’d like to believe. When you believe that you’re the default setting, you can simply decide that you’re going to live in a world where you can just ignore anything that doesn’t align with your prejudices. They don’t even notice.

4858 notes • Posted 2021-07-31 22:03:08 GMT

#1

This is your friendly (but autistically blunt) reminder that the term "neurodivergent" has always included mental health conditions, and the disabled woman of colour who coined the term, Kassiane Asasumasu, did so precisely because we were missing an inclusive umbrella term for anyone whose brain operates differently.

Not only do you sound clownish when trying to suggest that there is such a thing as neurotypical mentally ill people, you are slamming the door of neurodivergence on people who are also ostracized and marginalized and I have to wonder about your motivations for being so keen to distance yourself from us.

And as Asasumasu herself has said when y'all try to bring up the "but you have to be neurodivergent from birth or it doesn't really count" definition that people keep plucking out of thin air for no apparent reason, the term you are looking for already existed and it is "developmental disorders".

TL;DR Stop trying to retrospectively change the definition of a word if you don't even know its history, neurodivergence includes mental illness and that is not up for debate.

5604 notes • Posted 2021-10-05 17:42:44 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[erdarielthewhumper]

Alright, back at you, what fandoms are you in? Also do you have any recommendations?

Honestly what I'm actively in depends on what I've been watching/reading lately, but then there's a ton of stuff that I'm still a fan of that's just waiting for the opportunity to grab my attention and drag me back down into that paricular fandom hell 😂

So, at the moment I am mostly obsessed with The Musketeers (a BBC tv show that ran for three seasons 2014-2016, inspired by/loosely based on The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, but really most of the stories and stuff were invented for the show). It's really fun, I love the characters and the stories! There's a handful of episodes with decent whump, hurt/comfort, or angst kinda stuff, although not like, that many. Also whump and hurt/comfort are fairly popular fanfic genres within the fandom (well, considering Athos' entire backstory, the Savoy massacre from Aramis' backstory, the fact that Porthos grew up an orphan in the streets among thieves and beggars, never knowing his father, his mother having died when he was five, and the show literally starts with d'Artagnan's father being murdered... even that's well enough stuff for angst. And add to that the fact that they're soldiers, and the setting is one where they do see a lot of action, there's a wholeass four years of war that's not really shown onscreen at all, happening between the second and the third season... can you blame us? :P)

I'm also currently sort of involved in the fandom for Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. I haven't read anywhere near all of them though, just some of the series centered around characters that sound interesting or that I already like. They're good books, many of them contain some nice whump, the worldbuilding and stories are fun enough, the characters are so amazing and Lackey is so good at writing people! (Seriously that's what makes those books shine, what makes them memorable and sets them apart, more than the world or the stories.)

Beyond that, stuff I'm a fan of but aren't currently super invested in: LOTR and orher Middle-Earth stuff by Tolkien (an old love, my first fandom, the one I always keep going back to in the end), Discworld by Terry Pratchett (not so much a whump thing for me, but the Watch books and the Witches books and Monstrous Regiment are definitely worth a read! Okay so's most of Discworld, but those are my personal faves. Just don't start with Colour of Magic and you'll be fine), Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, some of Star Trek sometimes, oh and an old tv show called Robin of Sherwood (I absolutely love RoS but it's hard to come by and really obscure, the fandom's damn near dead). Doctor Who sometimes too. Plus Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana and The Fionavar Tapestry, but again, no fandom, so I'm just here in my own corner screaming about them...

Plus I wouldn't really consider myself a true fan of Marvel's X-Men comics (about 1975 to mid-90s, I've no interest in the comics earlier or newer than that), but I do hardcore whump Wolverine and kinda whump a few other characters a bit

As you may notice, I've sort of got a thing about classic high fantasy, plus you might be able to get my interest with a good historical adventure or scifi too, but mostly fantasy :D

Sorry this got really long, I always tend to ramble too much abt my interests!

[wastrelwoods]

hey! I remember originally following your blog for Penumbra Content™ but then I came across Discworld stuff and I got so excited!! I don't see a lot of Discworld content around and I think that's a real shame; I haven't read as many of the series yet as I would like, but it's been really important to me. Part of my personal witch stuff is based off of principles of witchcraft set down in the witches subseries and the Tiffany Aching series. Sorry this is a long blab about discworld stuff heh

NICE! yeah im not one o those people that’s read the whole set! i dont think most fans have? or maybe i just haven’t met them. i only have a passing familiarity with the witches series, and what i know i love! but probably for me the watch series has had the most impact in terms of like. oh, this is what a system looks like when the people in it fight to make it better every day, and never stop watching the watchmen. FUCking cathartic 

i. ALSo like the moist von lipwig books but that’s because i’m always a sucker for conman hijinks? and i love monstrous regiment but thats because i’m an nb lesbian